Nourishment
Pati Santos
May 09, 2020
Image: Florent Tanet
References:
https://standard.wellcertified.com/nourishment/fruits-and-vegetables
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953619300048?via=ihub
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Nutrition plays a key role in health maintenance, weight management and chronic diseases, and also in mental health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2.7 million deaths worldwide as a consequence of insufficient fruit and vegetable intake, making it one of the top 10 risk factors contributing to mortality in the world.
Regular consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is the cornerstone of a healthy diet and can lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
A recent study by Dr Redzo Mujcic demonstrates: “Increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables people eat lowers their risk of clinical depression, new research has found. The study discovered that eating, for example, four extra portions of fruit and vegetables a day can boost people’s mental health to such an extent that it can offset half the negative psychological impact of divorce and a quarter of the psychological damage of unemployment…
We found being made unemployed had a very bad and significant effect on people’s mental health, greatly increasing the risk of depression and anxiety. But eating seven or eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day can reduce that by half.”
The WELL Building Standard® encourages to implement design strategies and policies. As designers, we have the responsibility to help people to make food purchase and consumption decisions. “Dietary patterns and preparation practices all represent not only points of concern, but also venues for health improvement. Distance and access to grocery stores and other places that have fresh fruits and vegetables, access to farmers’ markets, the use of behavioural economics in cafeterias, increased availability of healthy foods and reduced marketing and availability of unhealthy foods, provision of caloric information and many other strategies can have an effect on our food choices and overall dietary patterns.”
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